Sheriff and Deputy
by Xelbie
Summary: Post Curse. Just because the curse is broken, doesn't mean that crime has stopped. Emma and her father, and new Deputy, David, find themselves chasing after a thief, but fail to capture him, resulting in an injured Emma. However, perhaps something good has come from it? Emma & Charming bonding


"David, you go that way!" Emma yelled while running after the man who had just stolen from Mr. Gold's shop.

It had been a normal afternoon for Emma and her father/Deputy. Well, as normal as it could get if the Deputy was your father. The revelation had been very strange for Emma. Not only because her parents were the same age as her, but after twenty-eight years, she was finally reunited with them. Even then, she wasn't exactly accustomed to living with them.

Now, they were chasing after a man who had taken something from Mr. Gold's shop. It couldn't be too difficult.

Emma rounded the corner of the building, her heart racing as she started to gain on the man. With an extra burst of speed, she sprinted to the man and tackled him to the ground.

Suddenly, something hard came into contact with her head and she was knocked out cold.

* * *

"—ma! Emma!" A voice made its way into her subconscious. "Wake up, please!" Obeying, she opened her eyes slightly to see a man standing above her, concern evident on his features. It has taken her a moment or so to realize what was going on.

"David?" Emma groaned while clutching the side of her head. A warm substance covered her hand and she pulled it back to see her palm drenched in blood. "Great..." she growled.

"Are you alright? We have to get you to the hospital!" Charming said frantically. He was close to her, but something stopped him from touching her.

The Sheriff brought herself up from the ground, only to stumble into her father's arms, relying on his support. "I'm fine!" She insisted. _No, I'm really not_, she thought to herself. Her vision was becoming hazy, and she couldn't think straight. Why was she there? They needed to catch someone. Why was David with her? Right, he was her Deputy.

James held his daughter, and his worry grew as her weight grew heavier in his arms. "Emma?"

"Yeah?" She barely mumbled in response. She was really tired. Damn, that guy must have caught her head pretty good; she could barely keep her eyes open.

He didn't respond for a moment, but then Emma suddenly felt weightless as he carried her. That woke her up. "What are you doing?" She asked, alarmed.

"It's obvious you aren't going to be able to walk," He said. "Just keep talking to me, alright? I think you may have a concussion."

That would explain the sleepiness she felt. "Is that what it is? I thought it was that damn sugar rush finally catching up to me."

James smiled slightly as he started to jog with the wounded Sheriff in his arms. "I was wondering where that sudden burst of energy had come from. I've never seen anyone run so fast before. Well, besides myself, of course."

Emma settled in his arms. Man, did she want to fall asleep. However, she had never been so talkative with her father before. A part of her liked it; she wanted to hold on to this moment as long as she could. "You? Please, I bet I could beat you with one leg."

Even though her eyes were closed, she could practically hear David's eyebrows rise. "Is that so? I would say that's a challenge." His breathing was uneven as he tried to keep conversation with his daughter while running to the car.

"Yeah… It is." Emma's voice was so faint, it scared him.

Finally, he approached the Sheriff car and set the woman in the passenger seat. When he buckled her in, he could see her nodding off. "Hey! Emma, stay with me, okay? We'll be at the hospital soon."

"Whoop-die-doo." She muttered and James smirked. Even when half conscious, his daughter could still be such a smartass. Getting into the driver's seat, he held onto her hand while starting to drive down the road.

Striking up a conversation, he spoke as enthusiastically as he could. "Hey, Emma, after you get better, maybe I can teach you how to ride a horse."

She scoffed with her eyes still closed, "Ha, me on a horse… You've got to be kidding." Her mind was cloudy, and her father's voice became muffled. Sleep sounded heavenly to her.

"I'll teach you," James started. "You can ride Xena. She was your mother's horse until she started to ride Faelnore. Xena is a really nice horse; she'll be perfect for you. We can all ride as a family once you and Henry learn." His voice drifted off. Oh, did he want that so badly. To be able to bond with his family, it was his dream.

Emma was silent.

"Emma?" Her breathing was shallow. "Emma! Please, please, be okay. We're almost there, stay with me!" Tears brimmed in his eyes. In three minutes, he was at the hospital, and he sprung into action. Gently lifting his daughter from the car and into the doors of the building.

A nurse approached him with a gurney and he set Emma down on the stretcher before Dr. Whale asked him what happened.

"We were chasing a thief and he must have hit her in the head with something because she was unconscious when I found her. Is she going to be alright?" James spoke quickly, his voice filled with panic. _She's going to be fine, Charming, she's strong._ He tried to reason with himself.

Whale nodded and led Emma away, leaving him alone in the waiting room.

* * *

Snow and Henry came a bit later. They must have come right from school since Henry still had his backpack with him. Charming had called his wife the moment he sat down in the waiting room.

"How is she?" Snow whispered to her husband.

He shook his head, "They haven't been out to see me yet."

Henry walked up to his grandfather. "Emma, my mom, she's going to be okay, right?" The boy's eyes shone with fear.

"I'm sure she's going to be fine. It looked like a concussion to me." James told his grandson reassuringly, but really, he needed the assurance just as much.

Whale came out just then, walking to the family with a slight smile on his face. That was enough for James to know his daughter was alright. However, Snow asked, once again, "How is she?"

Dr. Whale scoffed, "She's a tough one, that's for sure. Emma was already starting to slip into a comatose state, but something must have woke her up. She was awake about thirty minutes after she was brought here."

Charming asked angrily, "If she was awake, why didn't you tell us instead of making us wait two hours?"

The doctor held up his hands in defense, "It was her wish, not mine. She said you would start smothering her, and she didn't want that right after a concussion. You can see her now, though."

Charming, Snow and Henry followed the man as he led them to Emma's room. When they got there, she was sitting up in the hospital bed, dressed in a plain, blue clinic gown. Her skin was pale, and there was a red welt on the right side of her forehead, but despite that, she smiled slightly when she saw her family.

"Hey," she said casually.

Snow walked up to her daughter's side. "_Hey?!_" She roared. James and Henry both watched while Emma was lectured and Dr. Whale made it out of the room before the mother could explode.

There were many references to "Do you know how scared I was?" and "You made your father wait; we were so worried!".

The Sheriff sighed, "I know, I know, I'm sorry, okay?" Snow shook her head, and embraced her daughter loosely. After a couple minutes, everything seemed to die down, and Whale entered the room again, cautiously. He stated that Emma would stay at the hospital for a night so that her sleeping patterns could be monitored. She had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Snow and Henry then left to get hot chocolate from a machine in the hallway, leaving Charming alone to talk to his daughter. "You really scared me, you know?" He settled on a wooden stool by her bedside.

"I wasn't going to go down that easily. Storybrooke still needs it's Sheriff, and you, Deputy, have a lot to learn." Emma said pointedly.

James wore a confused look, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You could have gone after the guy, but you didn't. Rule one of being a Deputy; don't let the suspect get away." Emma readjusted herself in the bed.

Charming sighed. "Then I guess I'll have to resign."

"What?" She inquired.

"That's not my rule one, so if I can't follow the rules of being a Deputy, I guess I can't _be_ the Deputy." He spoke calmly.

Emma swallowed, knowing what he was going to say, but asked anyways. "And what is your rule number one?"

James met her eyes and they locked, as a smile spread across his face. He grabbed her hand. "Family always comes first."

* * *

**[A/N]:** _First OUAT fan fic~ I really like the family dynamics with the Charmings, so I thought I'd give it a shot since I've always wanted to write a fic for Once. Please tell me what you think :) _~ Xelbie


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